Patch 3.3.3: Upcoming Wintergrasp Balance Changes

Patch 3.3.3 is hitting the PTR soon and with it come some changes to Wintergrasp that will change how it works from then on. This also comes along with the other battleground and honor system changes discussed about yesterday.

Blizzard has never before revealed details of the inner workings of the Wintergrasp combat system, which favors certain sides based on how long you've controlled Wintergrasp recently. The entire explanation of the changes being made to the hidden system is posted below.

In the next minor content patch, we will be making some minor alterations to the way in which the internal balance system for Wintergrasp works in an attempt to better support realms with greater variations in the level of participation between the Alliance and Horde. Since we have never gone into much detail about how this hidden system currently works, we’d like to explain exactly how it will work in the next patch. Keep in mind that, although this information may feel very new to you, the actual changes being made in the patch to the current system are relatively minor. You can view the Patch 3.3.3 Public Test Realm Notes here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=23329393385&sid=1

Here are the key systems in place behind the hidden Wintergrasp advantages and how they will function in the upcoming patch:

There is an internal tug-of-war scale not visible by players which will shift under specific conditions.

The scale starts at 0 (neutral) and can move up to 700 points in either direction favoring the Alliance at one end, and Horde at the other.

This scale is persistent and does not reset to 0 whenever control of Wintergrasp shifts.

If an attacking force captures Wintergrasp Fortress while under the effects of any of the advantages listed below (400-700 points in their favor), the scale tips 100 points in favor of the opposing faction.

If a defending force successfully defends Wintergrasp Fortress two battles in a row, the scale tips 100 points in favor of the opposing faction.Each consecutive successful defense after a faction’s first two consecutive defenses will further tip the scale 100 points in favor of the opposing faction.As a quick example, if the scale is at 0 and the Alliance capture Wintergrasp fortress while attacking, the scale will not move. If the Alliance defend Wintergrasp twice in a row after this, the scale will move 100 points in favor of the Horde. Each consecutive defense by the Alliance after this will move the scale 100 points further in favor of the Horde each time, bringing the Horde to 400 points in their favor after one unsuccessful defense and five unsuccessful attacks, a total of six Horde losses in a row.

As another example, if the scale is at 400 in favor of the Horde and they capture Wintergrasp fortress while attacking, the scale will move 100 points in favor of the Alliance. If the Horde defend Wintergrasp twice in a row after this, the scale will move 100 points in favor of the Alliance. Each consecutive defense by the Horde after this will move the scale 100 points further in favor of the Alliance each time, bringing the Alliance to 100 points in their favor after one unsuccessful defense and five unsuccessful attacks, a total of six Alliance losses in a row.

The following advantages are provided at the beginning of the battle for Wintergrasp whenever these corresponding ranges on the scale have been reached:

0-300: No advantages granted.

400: Faction starts with the Sunken Ring Factory under their control.

500: Faction starts with the Sunken Ring and Broken Temple Factories under their control.

600: Faction starts with the Sunken Ring and Broken Temple Factories under their control and gains access to Catapults after earning 1 kill in battle.

700: Faction starts with the Sunken Ring and Broken Temple Factories under their control and gains access to Catapults, Siege Engines, and Demolishers after earning 1 kill in battle.

Comments

Comment by rezakov

on 2010-03-25T12:28:07-05:00

Looks like they don't care about server imbalances as much as they care about the money they get from Paid Character Transfers and Character Faction Changes. I had to move from The Underbog since we were happy to get into the fortress once a week if we got lucky. Even if we started with Siege Engines right in front of the Horde's door we still wouldn't win simply because they outnumberd us by 20:1.

Comment by Miiboom

on 2010-03-25T15:05:44-05:00

It's definitely the stuns that kill when you are so outnumbered. Instead of the proposed changes they should make you not stunnable when you get to a certain amount of tenacity.

Comment by ArisKatsaris

on 2010-05-29T14:47:19-05:00

Your screenshot says:Horde: Keep defended: 213 Keep captured: 1060Alliance: Keep defended: 82 Keep captured: 42-----This is impossible -- logic demands that the number of captures for Horde and Alliance is equal, or differs by only 1 (because capture indicates a change in control, and there are only 2 factions that can control it). It's only the number of times the keep is defended that can be vastly unequal.

I conclude that the image you linked to is a fake.

Comment by Girlcaster

on 2010-05-29T16:23:04-05:00

Your screenshot says:Horde: Keep defended: 213 Keep captured: 1060Alliance: Keep defended: 82 Keep captured: 42-----This is impossible -- logic demands that the number of captures for Horde and Alliance is equal, or differs by only 1 (because capture indicates a change in control, and there are only 2 factions that can control it). It's only the number of times the keep is defended that can be vastly unequal.

I conclude that the image you linked to is a fake.

Nice necro.....

Comment by Wildhorn

on 2010-05-29T17:52:54-05:00

Your screenshot says:Horde: Keep defended: 213 Keep captured: 1060Alliance: Keep defended: 82 Keep captured: 42-----This is impossible -- logic demands that the number of captures for Horde and Alliance is equal, or differs by only 1 (because capture indicates a change in control, and there are only 2 factions that can control it). It's only the number of times the keep is defended that can be vastly unequal.

I conclude that the image you linked to is a fake.

Bad necro and it is very possible. Your logic fail (there is not logic in fact, you didn't even explain why). There is not relation between the 2 factions amount of captured.

Comment by Squishalot

on 2010-05-31T01:14:56-05:00

Your screenshot says:Horde: Keep defended: 213 Keep captured: 1060Alliance: Keep defended: 82 Keep captured: 42-----This is impossible -- logic demands that the number of captures for Horde and Alliance is equal, or differs by only 1 (because capture indicates a change in control, and there are only 2 factions that can control it). It's only the number of times the keep is defended that can be vastly unequal.

I conclude that the image you linked to is a fake.

Bad necro and it is very possible. Your logic fail (there is not logic in fact, you didn't even explain why). There is not relation between the 2 factions amount of captured.

Impossible, if you use any logic at all.

You can attack, or you can defend. If Horde defend successfully, 1 point goes into Horde Keep Defended. If Alliance defend successfully, 1 point goes into Alliance Keep Defended.

Now, consider. For Horde to gain points in "Keep Captured", they need to attack successfully, meaning that Alliance needs to hold WG. But for Alliance to hold WG, they need to attack successfully in the round (or few) before. As a result, both 'keep captured' numbers need to be within 1 of each other.

If you need more evidence, check out www.timeuntilwintergrasp.com. Look at the 'top attackers' (most pointless stat of all time). By definition, they're all within 1 of each other, or at least, remarkably close, with any differences due to minor glitches. It shouldn't be anywhere near 1060/42. Check each of the realms individually, compare the number of attacking wins. You'll find the same result.

Argue for me - how can Horde capture WG (as opposed to defend WG), if Alliance never capture it?

Your logic fail, not his. And yes, he did explain it. You just failed at comprehending it.

Comment by Wildhorn

on 2010-05-31T15:24:30-05:00

Except that you didnt take in consideration the server restart giving WG to alliance.

So be sure to factor everything in before telling me I am wrong.

Comment by xabata

on 2010-05-31T17:34:51-05:00

Except that you didnt take in consideration the server restart giving WG to alliance.

So be sure to factor everything in before telling me I am wrong.

All 1018 times? and server restarts don't default it to the alliance anyways. you're just wrong and can never admit that.

Comment by Wildhorn

on 2010-05-31T19:05:49-05:00

It might not anymore, but it was for a very very long time defaulting it to alliance.

Comment by Squishalot

on 2010-05-31T19:53:19-05:00

Except that you didnt take in consideration the server restart giving WG to alliance.

So be sure to factor everything in before telling me I am wrong.

I did factor that in. That's why some of the ones online that I looked at are out by a couple of wins. Even with server restarts twice a week on average (to accomodate all those times when patches glitched the realms) and assuming that the problem still happens, WotLK would have needed to be out for 10 years to be out by a thousand wins.

There is not relation between the 2 factions amount of captured.

This statement here is what I called BS. Yes, I am still telling you that you're wrong. Happy to be proven wrong myself if you can demonstrate that you're right.

Comment by Wildhorn

on 2010-05-31T20:03:34-05:00

That statement was a poor choose of word from my bad english. Just meant that it didnt need to be a difference of 1.

And the screenshot is not a fake. The book always showed weird numbers.

Comment by Sneetch

on 2010-05-31T20:15:35-05:00

Your screenshot says:Horde: Keep defended: 213 Keep captured: 1060Alliance: Keep defended: 82 Keep captured: 42-----This is impossible -- logic demands that the number of captures for Horde and Alliance is equal, or differs by only 1 (because capture indicates a change in control, and there are only 2 factions that can control it). It's only the number of times the keep is defended that can be vastly unequal.

I conclude that the image you linked to is a fake.

Cool necro bro

Comment by Squishalot

on 2010-05-31T20:34:25-05:00

That statement was a poor choose of word from my bad english. Just meant that it didnt need to be a difference of 1.

And the screenshot is not a fake. The book always showed weird numbers.

I've never seen it showing such weird numbers on any of the realms that I play on. I'll go home and double check tonight just for you though.

Anyway, I realise that the screenshot was taken back in February, but TimeUntilWintergrasp shows that Alliance captured the keep 21 times in May alone. Are you suggesting that Alliance only captured it 40 times in an entire year and some, yet they took it half that many times in a single month? That's possible, definitely, but it doesn't explain why the book is so out of whack.

Comment by Wildhorn

on 2010-05-31T21:05:51-05:00

On one of my server, Alliance take control of WG only once per 1-2 days. So less than 7 times per week.

And I recall on my server the numbers of the book were weird.

Comment by Squishalot

on 2010-05-31T21:19:23-05:00

On one of my server, Alliance take control of WG only once per 1-2 days. So less than 7 times per week.

And I recall on my server the numbers of the book were weird.

Even 3 times per week, given how long WG has existed for, you'd expect at least a hundred wins then. The worst servers are 3 or so a month. But the point is, for Alliance to take control 20 times in May either means that they probably won more than 40 over a year, or that there was a huge demographic shift similar to Gevlon's ganking guild occuring.

It's also worth noting that they couldn't possibly only have 210 successful defences with so few successful Alliance attacks. What happened for the rest of the life of the server?

Comment by Wildhorn

on 2010-06-01T07:03:40-05:00

Maybe it is a dead PvE server where nobody care about PvP... go figure.

Comment by Squishalot

on 2010-06-01T08:46:51-05:00

It'd still qualify as successful defence.

Anyway, on Saurfang:

Horde:Keep Defended: 321Keep Captured: 382

Alliance:Keep Defended: 556Keep Captured: 382

Can't check my other server because it's currently owned by the other faction.

Comment by xabata

on 2010-06-01T10:28:01-05:00

That statement was a poor choose of word from my bad english. Just meant that it didnt need to be a difference of 1.

And the screenshot is not a fake. The book always showed weird numbers.

no, you're just a tard. Once again wrong and can't acknowledge that fact.